


Love at First Hindsight

by The_Wicked_Diamond



Series: Zukka Week 2021 [6]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Blind Character, Disability, Hurt/Comfort, Idiots in Love, M/M, Overuse of the word hindsight, Zuko has no self preservation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-19
Updated: 2021-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-28 17:07:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30142800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Wicked_Diamond/pseuds/The_Wicked_Diamond
Summary: Sokka really wants Zuko to stop jumping off cliffs.
Relationships: Aang & Toph Beifong & Katara & Sokka & Suki & Zuko, Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), The Gaang & Zuko (Avatar)
Series: Zukka Week 2021 [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2209716
Comments: 2
Kudos: 89





	Love at First Hindsight

**Author's Note:**

> Almost done with Zukka week! Crazy how time flies.
> 
> This is Day 6: Hurt/Comfort and Disability

Up until Zuko joined the gaang, none of them knew he was impaired in any way. When he showed up at the air temple, awkward and not meeting any of their eyes, they chalked it up to Zuko trying to sell his story. Then he burned Toph after she snuck out to meet him, and the gaang knew he was up to no good. They simply ignored Toph when she spoke, first when she said he was telling the truth (she couldn't tell when Azula was lying, could she?) and second when she said that she startled Zuko and he just happened to react with fire. It wasn't his fault.

Personally, Sokka believed Toph. Zuko had been acting weird. Sokka remembered thinking that if it was all just a ruse to get them to trust him, he needed to give Zuko more credit to his acting skills. Besides, who burns someone that they’re trying to be friends with? (Sokka absolutely does not think about Aang and Katara). But Sokka hadn’t been able stop Katara from wanting to hurt Zuko; the best he did was keep her from actually hurting Zuko. So they waited at the air temple, because Sokka had known that Zuko was going to try to come back, if not to join the gaang then to apologize to Toph. Sokka wasn't sure how he knew this, but it definitely had something to do with his gut.

His gut had been right, because Sokka had heard someone climbing down the temple just after sunrise (he hadn't been able to sleep, too busy thinking about Zuko). Sokka had grabbed Boomerang and went to check it out. There was Zuko, hanging from a rope and looking completely tangled up. He was only a few feet away from the ground, so Sokka didn't know why he did just cut himself down and drop. Sokka stopped a couple steps from Zuko.

“Need some help there?” Zuko jumped as well as he could from his position, like he hadn't realized Sokka was there. Maybe he didn't, Sokka realized. Maybe he was too focused on the rope to hear or see him arriving. Sokka probably scared him. He should probably do something about it. “Uh, I mean you no harm?” He probably should not have sounded so uncertain. Zuko tensed and Sokka could see his chest moving quickly. Sokka scrambled for something to say. “Do you just want me to leave you?” he asked. Somehow, this made Zuko more panicked. Finally, he spoke.

“I can’t get down,” he said. Sokka raised his eyebrow, but Zuko was facing away from him so it had no effect.

“Just cut yourself down,” Sokka replied.

“I don’t have a knife.” Even if Sokka hadn’t seen the outline of a knife in Zuko’s waistband, he still would have known the boy was lying. It was at that point that Sokka realized Zuko really was telling the truth, because apparently the art of lying skipped Zuko. Still, Sokka could not connect this awkward teen with the Fire Nation Prince that chased them around the world. What happened between the catacombs and the Day of Black Sun?

Sokka decided to have pity on the prince and walked closer to where he was hanging. “You’re only a few feet from the ground. The drop won’t kill you.” Zuko still stubbornly did not get his knife out. So Sokka did the rational thing and cut the rope for him, then held out his arms to catch him. Good thing he did, because Sokka’s pretty sure Zuko would have flailed off of the ledge into the ravine. Sokka could feel Zuko’s heart racing as his eyes looked around wildly and- wait. His eyes were moving around, but they definitely weren’t looking around. Zuko seemed to hold no recognition of anything around him, and that was when it clicked for Sokka.

He set him down and turned the other teen towards himself. “Zuko,” he started tentatively, “Are you blind?” The answer was confirmed when Zuko’s heart beat even faster, and wow, Sokka was pretty sure the guy was working himself into a heart attack. Sokka set him on his feet and placed Zuko’s hands on his chest.

“Just breathe with me, Zuko. It’s okay, there’s no need to worry.” Zuko just shook his head, his mouth trying to form words he didn’t have the breath to produce. “Don’t talk, just breathe. Come on, in and out, just follow my lead, okay? In-” he drew in a breath and saw Zuko do the same-- “And out.” They exhaled together. Slowly, Sokka helped Zuko get back to normal.

Once his breathing evened out, Sokka gently clapped Zuko on the shoulder. “What was that about?” Sokka knew that technically, Zuko was still the enemy, but Sokka didn't think that was completely true anymore.

“I promise I can still help the Avatar. I can teach him to firebend, even if I can’t see it. I was blind the whole time I was chasing you and I still almost caught you several times. I’m not worthless,” Zuko rushed out. Sokka held up his hands.

“Woah, woah, woah. Who said anything about worthless? I definitely believe you are still capable. You literally just climbed 50 feet on a rope overlooking a cavern with no way of knowing where the bottom is, even we can't see it-”

“I  _ what _ ?” Zuko interrupted, breathing picking back up. Sokka calmed him down before he could start panicking again.

“Hey, now, no biggie, right? Just proves you are useful, even though not being useful doesn't make you worthless, by the way.” Zuko looked like he didn't believe Sokka, which meant that Sokka would have his work cut out for him, if Katara could ever accept Zuko into the gaang. Sokka already knew that he would allow Zuko to join, and he was pretty sure that Toph adopted Zuko but in a sibling way, if that was even possible. Speaking of… “Why did you burn Toph?” Zuko looked confused before a look of recognition that quickly morphed into regret crossed his face.

“Is that her name? I didn't mean to. I didn't hear her until she got really close to my camp, and then she stepped on a twig and I thought it was some Fire Nation assassin sent by my father to kill me, so I panicked and attacked before I could be attacked. Then I heard her voice and realized she was way too young, even for the Fire Nation, and so she must be part of your group and oh Agni I burned her badly, didn't I? It sounded like she was moving slowly on four feet instead of two.  _ Agni _ . I burned her feet, and now she can't walk. Oh, I’m such a  _ failure _ . I understand if you want to push me off the cliff now. Here, I’ll get you started.” Zuko walked towards the edge, but since he was unaware of how far away he was, his first step was on thin air. He started to fall, but Sokka grabbed his hand and threw himself away from the ledge and into the temple, bringing Zuko with him. Sokka twisted at the last second so that he would take the brunt of the impact, then pushed Zuko off himself and turned towards Zuko. In hindsight, he should have known Zuko would react like that.

“Are you insane or stupid?” He yelled at Zuko. He was panting from the adrenaline and pissed off. Not at Zuko, though. Sokka wasn't quite sure who it was he was mad at. Probably whoever made Zuko believe that jumping off a cliff was an appropriate response to anything.

“Maybe a little bit of both?” Zuko responded. Sokka huffed out a laugh and rolled onto his back, letting relief wash over him.

“A little bit of both, says the crazy idiot, after nearly walking off a cliff on accident.” Sokka looked at Zuko out the corner of his eye. “It was an accident, right?” Zuko closed his eyes, laying on his back as well.

“I’m not really sure,” Zuko replied. “I definitely did not mean to fall off right away, but I wanted to get to the edge, so goal accomplished, I guess.”

Sokka rolled his eyes. Then realized the action was lost on Zuko. So he sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “Let’s go,” he said, getting up and holding a hand out to Zuko. Wow, he was going to need to get used to  _ not doing that _ . “Uh, I’m holding out my hand.” Zuko narrowed his eyes and grabbed Sokka’s hand.

“I know,” he said. Sokka blinked, and the silence must have been loud enough that Zuko continued, “I can use my fire bending to feel the heat in things. But it only works on larger objects that differ from room temperature.” Sokka’s jaw dropped.

“That is literally so cool. It’s like Toph’s seismic sensing, but for firebending! Come on, you and Toph  _ need  _ to meet each other.” Sokka paused. “Er, formally meet each other.” Without another word, Sokka pulled Zuko towards where the gaang was sleeping. Zuko, of course, followed, because the only other option was to get left in a place he doesn't know and can't see his way out of. Sokka, of course, did not think this through until he was at the open area, shouting at everyone to wake up. In hindsight, he realized his mistake.

There were 4 things wrong with this.

  1. The gaang had been travelling through war zones for months, so their instincts upon being woken up so abruptly were to immediately get into a fighting stance to face the threat.



  1. Of the members of the gang, one was a master water bender, one was the greatest earthbender in the world, and one was the Avatar. Very skilled benders, all of them. _Very_ precise and accurate.



  1. Zuko had only just decided to go good, and only Sokka truly knew this. Everyone else knew Zuko as the angry prince that chased them around the world.



  1. In addition to this, Zuko also recently burned the only member of the gaang who had been willing to give him a chance.



So, when Sokka yelled, “Wake up!”, he was immediately hit with a wave of water and air (he managed to dodge the rock. Zuko had not). Then, when he yelled, “Zuko!” and turned to catch the teen who had just taken a rock the size of his head to said head, the gaang was on even higher alert and also started shouting. Zuko was barely conscious in Sokka’s arms, everyone was yelling, and Sokka was soaked and wind-blown (which somehow did not cancel each other out).

It was chaos until Toph yelled, “Quiet!” She crawled over to where Sokka was holding Zuko. “Set him on the ground,” she whispered. Sokka gently placed Zuko down next to Toph, who flattened her hands on the ground and pinched her face in concentration. “It’s not as accurate with my hands, but Sparky doesn’t feel right. His pulse feels too slow. Katara,” Toph said. Katara’s eyes widened. In all the time they’d known her, Toph had rarely called anyone by their real names. “I need you to heal him.” Katara began to shake her head.

“I can't! I can't do that, Toph. He’s Fire Nation. He burned your feet, Toph.” Toph growled at Katara.

“Yeah,  _ my _ feet. And I forgive him. I know I scared him. And now he doesn’t feel right and you need to heal him.” Katara still looked like she was going to refuse. Toph must have been able to feel it, because a rock lifted out of the ground and pushed Katara towards Zuko. 

Grumbling, his sister kneeled by the prince and uncorked her canteen. Sokka felt more than saw Zuko’s flinch at the sound. Katara bit her lip and started moving her water magic around Zuko’s head. Slowly, her face morphed from anger into something of confusion and then fear.

“Toph, I think you might have hit him a bit too hard. His skull feels fractured, not a lot, but enough to be felt.” Katara gritted her teeth. “I was able to mend the bone, but he’ll definitely still feel it when he wakes up. Someone should stay with him in case something happens.”

“I’ll do it,” Sokka volunteered. Katara looked like she was going to protest, so he said, “I found him, and it’s kind of my fault he’s hurt.” Sokka knew she was going to keep complaining, but for now she would keep it to herself, so he scooped up Zuko and brought him over to his own bedroll. With a carefully regulated inhale, Katara went to start on breakfast. Aang and Toph went off to practice earthbending (well, Aang would practice, Toph would just yell because her feet were still burned). The other Earth Kingdom kids (wow Sokka would need to remember their names) were scattered around the temple.

Sokka sat next to Zuko for most of the morning. Katara finished breakfast and brought him a bowl. Sokka ate quickly and just watched the sleeping boy. Zuko didn't wake up until almost noon, coming to life with a pained groan. He tried to sit up, but Sokka placed a hand on his chest, lightly pressing him back down.

“How are you feeling?” Sokka asked. In hindsight, it was probably a stupid question. Zuko’s face appeared to be trying to give him an  _ are you serious right now? _ look, but his eyes didn't quite reach Sokka, so the effect of the glare was lost.

“Perfectly fantastic, thank you for asking.” Sokka snorted. Of all things, sarcastic was not what he would have expected from Zuko.

“I’m glad for you. Maybe I’ll ask Toph to hit you with a bigger rock next time.” Zuko looked contemplative.

“So it  _ was _ Toph who hit me. I guess that makes us even, right?” Sokka resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

“Of course you can only think about debts after getting hit in the head with a rock. I’m sure this makes you partially even. Toph seemed really upset about hitting you, though I’m sure she’s going to milk you burning her feet until she can't.”

“Maybe I should milk her hitting me in the head until I can’t. Should I tell her it made me blind?” Sokka actually laughed that time.

“I think you and Toph are going to get along great.” Zuko looked pleased, and Sokka couldn't help but notice how pretty Zuko looked. It wasn't just his physical appearance, though that certainly helped, but the way he was relieved at the idea of being friends with one of them. The way he was sarcastic and cared about settling debts over his own well-being. The way he doesn't think before he acts (and maybe Sokka does that too sometimes). 

“So does this mean I’ve been accepted into the gaang?” Zuko asks. Sokka sighs.

“I mean, Toph and I certainly think you should join, and I’m pretty sure Aang will be okay with it as well. It’s Katara I worry about,” Sokka explained. Zuko looked confused, so Sokka elaborated. “Apparently you betrayed her in the catacombs. She was very hurt by that, and decided you were no better than the man that killed our mother. Honestly, I don’t know how you could have betrayed us when you were never on our side, but I went along with it because it made Katara feel, well, not better, but it made her something other than sad. It almost gave her purpose, hating you.” Zuko seemed to deflate. “I’m sure she’ll warm up to you in no time.”

“Yeah,” Zuko rasped. “Sure she will.” Sokka set his mouth in a straight line (and no it was not lost on him that Zuko couldn’t see it) and patted the injured teen’s shoulder.

“Might as well get the rest of the gaang in here. I’m sure they’ll want to-“ Sokka was interrupted by the temple shaking like it had been hit with an earthquake. For a second, he wondered if Toph was just letting out some steam, but then there was a lot of yelling. The missing members of the gaang came running down the temple hallway, shouting incoherently.

“What happened!?” Sokka asked, totally calm.

“Sparky-Sparky-Boom Man!” Aang yelled.

“Oh shit,” Sokka responded. He went to grab Zuko but found the teen absolutely nowhere to be found. Katara was pulling him away from the center area, towards some rocky covering. It was a good thing too, because not a second later, the entire area exploded. Sokka glanced over and saw Spark-Sparky-Boom Man (he has  _ got _ to come up with a better name) standing on a ledge protruding from the opposite side of the cliff. He was gearing up to hit them with another burst from his  _ third spirits-damned eye _ (and it definitely would have been bad news for them) when a shape came out of nowhere and hit him on the-  _ holy shit was that Zuko? _ Sokka had no idea how he knew where SSB Man was, but he and Zuko were going to have a long talk later about the appropriateness of jumping off cliffs. Especially when one could not even  _ see  _ where they were jumping.

The battle only lasted a couple minutes until Sokka finally realized he could use his boomerang to take down SSB Man. He threw it perfectly and hit the man right on his third eye, causing it to combust right there (ooh! Combustion Man!). Zuko had already been thrown across the canyon, and he hit the temple floor with a roll that probably saved his life, so he wasn’t in any danger of dying by falling.

As soon as Sokka was sure Combustion Man wasn’t going to come crawling up the cliff side, he ran over to Zuko. Sokka dropped to his knees and cradled Zuko’s face in his hand. In hindsight, moving someone with a possible spinal injury was probably not the best idea.

Zuko groaned and squeezed his eyes tight. “Sokka,” he ground out. “Please put my head back on the ground. Quickly but gently, Sokka allowed Zuko’s head to rest on the floor. Not even a second later, Katara arrived.

“Zuko,” she started, “what hurts?” Zuko inhaled and exhaled in a way that said Katara was testing his patience.

“I have just been thrown across a chasm by an assassin that can shoot fire from his forehead. I would take a wild guess and assume  _ everything _ .” Zuko’s voice was scathing. Katara cringed slightly.

“Sorry,” she said. “Bad question. Okay, what feels like it needs the most immediate attention?” Katara asked instead.

“I think my back should probably get looked at first. My spine feels like it was earthbent apart and then back together.” Katara’s eyes widened and she immediately moved her hand across Zuko’s body. She sighed in relief.

“Nothing is broken that I can feel, but the muscles feel like they’ve pinched around your spine to keep it in place, and your back is going to be badly bruised. I can help some of that, but it’s probably going to have to heal on its own for the most part.” Zuko just huffed. Sokka could already tell he was not going to be an easy patient. “I also feel something weird with your eyes. I didn’t notice it earlier.” Katara looked worried and Sokka had to hold back a snort as Zuko opened his glassy eyes. They shifted towards Katara but were still slightly off. Anxiety was rolling off Katara in waves.

Sokka felt slightly better when Zuko let out a laugh. “Don’t worry. My eyes were like this long before I met you guys.”

“And this is…?” Katara trailed off, hoping Zuko would answer. He did.

“Completely blind. Can’t see a thing. Absolutely no perception of any visual stimulation.” Sokka rolled his eyes (was he going to have to give that up? Because rolling your eyes is no fun when the person you’re rolling them at can’t see it).

“Don’t be smart about it.” Sokka turned to Katara. “The idiot can’t see. That’s it.” Katara looked like she didn’t know whether to be relieved or upset, so she settled on somewhere in between. Sokka stood up. “Is it safe to move him?” Katara blinked away her confusion and nodded.

“Sure,” she said. “Let me just ease some of the pain.” She rolled Zuko onto his back and ran her water magic along his spine. Sokka heard Zuko exhale his gratitude as the teen melted into the floor. When Katara finished, Sokka helped Zuko stand.

“Alright big guy. Let’s get you to sleep. Maybe you’ll feel better in the morning.” Zuko nodded and leaned his body against Sokka, allowing him to lead the injured boy to the bedrolls.

Sokka prepared a spare roll for Zuko right next to his own so that he would be easily accessible. As soon as it was ready, Zuko laid down and fell asleep in a matter of seconds.

Sokka stayed up a bit longer and helped Katara prepare dinner, then he ate and quickly joined Zuko in slumber.

The night was peaceful— or, as peaceful as the gaang got. No one woke up from any nightmares, so overall, a positive night. The morning was the same, as was the rest of the day. The gaang got reacquainted with Zuko, and they helped him figure out his place. 

  
  
  


Zuko began teaching Aang firebending, though his fire definitely wasn’t as hot as it normally was. He and Aang disappeared on a special life-changing field trip, and when they came back, Zuko’s fire was rainbow colored and he and Aang were dancing.

The next life-changing field trip was Sokka’s own. He and Zuko broke into an inescapable prison called the Boiling Rock, found Suki and Hakoda, then broke back out. They had to fight Azula’s sister and her two lackeys, but together, they dealt with them pretty well. It seemed like Azula tried to kill the darker one, but the gondola was too far gone for Sokka to fully see what happened. He decided not to tell Zuko about that, given that Zuko had shown some sort of emotional attachment to her. They made it back to the temple relatively safe, though Toph was upset that a, they didn’t invite her, and b, they didn’t even get meat.

It was all going great at the temple. Zuko and Aang were fire dancing every day, Toph kept throwing rocks at everyone, and they were all getting along great. Mostly. Katara still seemed apprehensive towards Zuko.

Then, everything changed when Azula attacked. The gaang was rudely awoken by rocks being thrown at them. Toph earthbent a tunnel for them to escape. Zuko, instead of running away from the danger, ran straight  _ toward the cliff again and holy shit he jumped off of another cliff. _ Appa wasn’t having any of the tunnels, so Sokka had to say goodbye to his dad (again). He joined the gaang on Appa as they flew out of the temple, towards the airships. As they were flying up, Sokka spotted Zuko atop one of the airships,  staring facing down Azula. Once again, the madman  _ jumped across the spirits damned gap  _ and landed on Azula’s ship, throwing his dragon fire at her. Sokka nearly had a heart attack and rescheduled their talk about jumping off of things to immediately after this fight ended.

Aang and Appa dodged fire blasts left and right as Zuko and Azula duked it out on top of an airship (that Sokka helped create what has he done) that had absolutely no protective railing on the top. Zuko was keeping his own, until they tried to fire punch each other at the same time, causing a mini explosion. Sokka felt his heart stop as Zuko fell off of the airship. He blindly reached out a hand, but Sokka didn’t see any trace of panic. Himself, on the other hand, he could feel about to die of heart problems. He leaned as far out of Appa’s saddle as he could to catch Zuko and get him to safety. Once the teen was in his arms, Sokka felt his racing heart start to calm down marginally. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Azula blast fire out of her feet and anchor herself to the cliff side.

Turning his attention back to the teen in his arms, Sokka felt immense amounts of relief. On an impulse, he pressed a kiss onto Zuko’s lips. In hindsight, that probably wasn’t the best decision, but current Sokka didn’t care.

“You absolute dumbass,” he whispered into Zuko’s hair. “Stop jumping off of things. Need I remind you, you  _ can’t see _ .” Zuko pressed his forehead into Sokka’s chest.

“I know that,” he whispered. “I needed to stop Azula.” Sokka closed his eyes.

“Are you okay?” He asked. Zuko nodded.

“Yeah,” he said. “Will you kiss me again?”

“Depends.” Sokka brushed the hair away from Zuko’s face. “Are you going to jump off a cliff again?”

Zuko contemplated the question, which did absolutely nothing for Sokka’s pulse. “Maybe I won’t if you kiss me again.”

“Well that settles it.” Sokka kissed Zuko again, for longer this time. Zuko stayed cradled in his arms the whole time. Even when he suggested Ember Island, his back stayed flush to Sokka’s chest, sitting between his legs. It was nice, even though the rest of the gaang tried to awkwardly pretend they don’t exist.

In hindsight, Sokka just wished he kissed Zuko sooner. Maybe he could have prevented at least one cliff.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a kudos and a comment if you enjoyed this!


End file.
